Israel-Palestine conflict: Gaza truce extended by 2 days, US says

• Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas have agreed to extend their truce deal, Qatar and the White House said

• More Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel are expected to be released on Monday

• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced during a visit to Israel that Berlin allocated 7 million to rebuild a kibbutz gallery destroyed by Hamas

Qatar says Israel-Hamas truce extended for two days

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari said Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend truce for two more days.

"An agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Hamas also said it agreed to a two-day extension.

"An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce," a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency.

There were no immediate comments from Israel.

Israel notifies families of hostages due to be released on Monday

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the families of the hostages to be released on Monday had been informed.

It did not say how many of the hostages held by Hamas militants would be released.

Elon Musk in Israel: Murderous propaganda needs to be stopped

During his trip to Israel, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk said propaganda "that is convincing people to engage in, you know, murder" needs to be stopped.

He accompanied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to the Kfar Aza kibbutz targeted by Hamas militants in their deadly terror attack on southern Israel in which around 1200 people were killed. The terror attacks by Hamas on October 7 led to Israel's current military operation in Gaza.

"Those that are intent on murder must be neutralized," Musk said, according to the Reuters news agency.

"The propaganda must stop that is training people to be murderers in the future. And then, making Gaza prosperous. And if that happens, I think it will be a good future."

Musk was also due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who's now part of a special wartime
Cabinet.

"In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online," Herzog's office said in a statement.

Civil rights groups have recently accused Musk of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

UN experts urge war crimes investigation

UN rights experts have urged an independent investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel and Hamas in their ongoing conflict.

"Independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict," Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture, said in a joint statement.

They urged the international community to ensure that those responsible for serious human rights violations, especially those with command responsibility, are promptly brought to justice.

They said perpetrators could be charged by courts in any country as war crimes and crimes against humanity fall under so-called universal jurisdiction.

"We encourage all states to play a proactive role in identifying key suspected perpetrators and helping to facilitate prosecutions through the principle of mutual legal assistance," they said.

Israel has previously denied it committed war crimes during its military operations against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has denied that it targeted civilians during its terror attacks on Israel on October 7.

Germany announces €7 million to rebuild kibbutz gallery destroyed by Hamas

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has visited the Be'eri kibbutz with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

The kibbutz near Gaza was one of those targeted by Hamas militants in their deadly October 7 terror attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.

"Being here means that we are able to witness how much this soul of Israel was touched and destroyed by the attack of Hamas on Israeli people and the Kibbutz of Be'eri and the neighboring Kibbutzim close by," Steinmeier said.

He announced that the German parliament had allocated €7 million ($7.6 million) to rebuild the kibbutz Be'eri art gallery, which was destroyed in the Hamas attack.

On Sunday, Steinmeier pledged Germany's unwavering support for Israel in its war in Gaza saying Berlin stood in "solidarity with Israel."

"It is not only with Israel as a victim of terror. Our solidarity is also with the Israel that defends itself, that fights against an existential threat," Steinmeier said.

EU says 'long-lasting' truce needed so political solution can be found

Josep Borrell, the European Union's foreign policy chief, has called for extending the truce in Gaza "to make it sustainable and long-lasting while working for a political solution."

Borrell was speaking at the start of a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona, which Israel was not attending.

Borrell said he "regretted" the absence of Israel, which has become a forum for cooperation between the EU and the Arab world.

In his opening remarks, he repeated his condemnation of the Hamas October 7 terror attack on Israel but called on Israel to end its war in Gaza.

"No army can guarantee a country's safety better than peace can," he added.

Borrell said peace between Israel and Palestinians has become a strategic imperative.

He said that to defeat the Hamas ideology, Palestinians need a "credible political prospect for statehood based on international parameters."

"There can not be peace and security for Israel without the existence of a Palestinian state," Borrell said.

US Navy frees hijacked Israeli tanker in Gulf of Aden

The United States Navy said it captured five armed individuals in the Gulf of Aden after freeing the hijacked Israeli tanker Central Park.

US Central Command said sailors from the USS Mason, a US Navy vessel, received a distress signal from the Liberia-flagged ship after its crew reported it had been seized along the key global transport route.

"Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The [destroyer USS] Mason pursued the attackers, resulting in their eventual surrender," read a Central Command statement.

Missiles launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen targeted the USS Mason and Central Park after the attackers' capture, landing in the Gulf of Aden, the statement said. No damage or injuries were reported.

The Central Park, managed by the Israeli company Zodiac Maritime, has a crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam. None were harmed in the incident.

The US has not published information about the assailants, but the Yemeni government blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who've been at war with government forces since 2014. Though the Houthis have not claimed responsibility, they had previously vowed to keep up attacks on Israeli vessels for as long as the war in Gaza continues.

On Friday, an Israeli container ship came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. One week ago, another cargo ship was seized off the coast of Yemen, and its two dozen crew members were taken hostage.

Israeli ships have been regularly warned of threats and have begun deactivating their Automatic Identification System trackers to avoid being targeted.